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Intellectual Property Protection

Bringing technology innovations to market is a complex process, much of which may be unfamiliar to researchers and developers in the field of education. Commercializing an idea raises new issues, especially the importance of identifying and protecting the intellectual property of your original idea.

Intellectual property (commonly referred to as “IP”) is defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as “creations of the mind,creative works or ideas embodied in a form that can be shared or that can enable others to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them.”

It is important to take early steps to protect your idea. Intellectual property must first be protected through careful records to prove ownership. In these early stages, it will be important to keep a detailed logbook, institute nondisclosure agreements with the appropriate parties, and conduct a prior art search to ensure that your idea is a novel one. It is particularly important to define and establish the initial date of an invention since this determines the priority date and the length of patent protection.

In addition, you need to be aware of intellectual property ownership issues. Researchers/developers will need to consider who owns their product/idea, and must contact their university’s or government lab’s Technology Transfer Office (TTO). Company technology developers will have in-house procedures for IP protection and often will have explicit company policy in this regard. Independent inventors will have less to worry about in this area, but should still consult a professional in order to protect their inventions.

After ownership of the IP is established, you must learn the details about how to protect your idea. The physical form that an idea eventually takes will help to determine the type of protection needed. Intellectual property can be protected in different ways, by patent, trademark, copyright, or trade secret.

Patents are commonly used to protect tangible items such as hardware devices. In some cases, patents are used to protect software products, especially when new and innovative software applications are developed, or to protect algorithms that drive the utility of the software. The owners of the the orbiTouch® company, a privately held corporation, have applied for and received multiple patents for a keyless keyboard and mouse, designed to eliminate wrist motion and reduce typing discomfort and pain.

A trademark protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured by others. Many companies use trademarks to protect corporate logos and product names they develop for their technologies (e.g., IntellitoolsTM and the Reading Pen by WizcomTM). Windows® and Macintosh® are registered trademarks, meaning they have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (see Benefits of Registering Trademarks for more information).

Copyrights protect original works of authorship (e.g., educational software, journals, music, and plays). In the field of education, software applications are generally copyrighted. You will notice copyright protection on software such as Clicker© from Crick Software, Sentence Master© by Laureate Learning Systems, and many others.

Trade secrets refer to information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors. This form of protection does not need to be applied for or approved by any agency, and can protect a much broader range of information than patents or copyrights. There is no way to know if a company holds trade secrets. Turning Point Therapy and Technology, Inc. protects the process and methodology used to formulate their keyguards and the Original Equipment Manufacturer that manufactures their technology by keeping it as a trade secret.